>> “I… I can get to the hospital and visit or something,” 

Celeste frowned with a small, sad sigh. He didn't want to come - the paramedic would leave, Devon would probably bounce, and she'd just be by herself in a hospital bed. Probably dying with all the blood she was losing or some piece of glass stuck inside some crucial organ or something. He probably had more important things to do, though. It wasn't like they were best friends - they had only met once. She stared at the ceiling, at least the best she could. It would be... Whatever. She was used to it, anyway. Being by herself was her thing, at this point in her life. 

>> "I'm glad we found Celestina's emergency contact. So convenient to have someone to look out for her and not leave her on her own in this sort of situation." 

She perked a brow, a confused, puzzled look coming across her face. What? He wasn't her contact. H even said so. She didn't even have an emergency contact. She just put a fake person who doesn't exist and a phone number that doesn't exist. She had a few people she figured could be her emergency contacts, but she really just didn't want to have that conversation with them, at least not at this point in her friendship with them. Her mind couldn't put the pieces together but she said nothing. She didn't really have the energy. Maybe some of that evil ladies powers, magic, or whatever was still going on?

A few seconds later it seemed that the other paramedic was going to take Devon over to the truck and check him out. That was good. At least they could make sure he was okay. Was any of them okay after what just happened?

>>"Don’t worry. We won’t leave you alone.”

She smiled, kind of nodded but ultimately just stared upwards trying to focus her eyes on some of the lights. She didn't believe him like she couldn't believe half of the crazy sh*t that had just happened. Or that she had a stab wound in her side. The 'we won't leave you alone' was a pretty lie. At least, she figured as much. Maybe she wouldn't be. Maybe.

>>"Anybody ever tell you that you’d make a decent vampire?” 

She chuckled weakly, "N-no... M-maybe that'll be my costume next year." She coughed, a little bit of blood spilling out. Actually, there was no way she'd be going out next year on Halloween. No way, Jose. No one could pay her enough. She shook her head, a little belatedly, "I-I'm never d-doing anything on Hallo-oween again." 

>> "I'm glad we found Celestina's emergency contact. So convenient to have someone to look out for her and not leave her on her own in this sort of situation."

Devon blinked a few times, then held his eyes shut. Hadn’t he said he wasn’t? Or had he just thought that? If his head wasn’t pounding and the garage spinning slightly, then maybe he would have asked. He didn’t want to sound crazy. The girl had made him crazy. She’d robbed him of his control.

The other guy, Donnie, approached him and gestured down and out. “Right this way Mr. – Mister Emergency Contact. Let me just check your pupillary response at the back of the truck, okay?”

“Hadden. Devon Hadden,” he said with a small nod. “And sure, that’s probably smart. I’m worried I might have a concussion.” He nodded again, slower this time. It felt like his brain was sliding around in his skull, more than normal anyway.

He took a few careful paces forward and looked up at the ceiling and around at the destruction that had been wrought. Hopefully the other two were okay. It had been a blur of anger and paranoia before, but it was likely the ceiling crawler hadn’t been working with the young girl, even if she was from doppleganger-land. The girl – those red eyes – clearly something was wrong with her mentally to do this, to believe this. Could she see those things all the time? Hallucinations or a sight of something just beyond?

Devon sighed, swallowed the lump in his throat, and rubbed his temples with one hand.

“You alright, er, Mr. Hadden?” Donnie asked. He glanced at his partner and the few cops making their way for the stairs.

Devon nodded slowly, “Yep. I can walk, just gotta take my time. I doubt anyone wants me flying outside.” Though that sounded far more stable and safer than the ground right now. Funny how that went. Celeste was chuckling too as he looked her way.

Something about vampires and costumes. Looks like Celeste was flirting and the paramedic was doing all he could to keep her awake. Good. That was good. Devon smiled slightly. He’d likely need to keep himself awake if this was really a concussion. Migraine? And God, he didn’t want to sleep. Those monsters would be there, crawling out of the darkness…

Devon leaned a hand against the stairwell frame. The concrete was cold with a ring of electrically burnt spider-webs scorched into the ground and wall. The EXIT sign was out. He vaguely remembered huddling here away from the screeching, bleeding claws before everything had become brilliantly stark with violent colors. No, he didn’t want to dream tonight.

“I’ll see you downstairs, Celeste!” he shouted and clutched the railing as he went down.

Eventually he made it to one of the ambulances, sitting down at the open rear doors as he let out a long breath. He took out his phone but it was trashed. Normally that didn’t happen, but normally everything from the Upside Down wasn’t trying to break into the world and he wasn’t losing all matter of control. He had to have been channeling quite a bit of power over himself, let alone by the way his head and eyes were hurting.

Devon sighed, leaning forward to stare at the ground.

He put Celestina's hands over her wound and had her press down, not that she had great leverage or strength in her condition. But it did give her something to focus on and do and the wound was only weeping. Pressure would help. AJ getting them moving would help more and for that he needed both hands.

"Aww don't let one crummy Halloween put you off." He had to stop them to lift the back gurney wheels gently over some rubble that tried to scrape along with them. "Look. I'm working, but I still managed to dress up." He lifted and tilted the bed ever so gently in order to squeeze through a gap that they wouldn't have otherwise. He also knew that talking to people who'd gone through trauma and blood loss and the like was often like talking to someone very, very young. He gladly explained his 'costume.' "What? You can't tell? I'm dressed as a paramedic." Bad jokes deserved groans, but he did scan over Celestina just to be sure something wasn't wrong.

Donnie was helping their other conscious one, Devon. AJ'd been hoping that the man would have some more information about what happened. So far, Celestina'd turned out to be a bit more lucid.

"When we step into the truck, I'm going to run through some questions. You answer as best you can. Give me all your truth, okay Celeste? I'm not a cop. I can't really get you in trouble for your actions. There's also machines and needles and all kinds of other things that you don't have to be afraid of."

They'd parked as close to the barrier of cars as they'd been able to. That made it not too terrible of a roll. A waited while Donnie finished up checking Devon's pupillary response and then waved him over so they could hoist Celestina the ballerina up. AJ clicked the legs up and locked them so they could just carry her the rest of the way. She wasn't that heavy.

In a flurry of medical chatter, Celestina's straps were checked and she got rolled in. AJ snapped his gloves off and pulled on a fresh pair in order to take a closer look at Devon's head.

"Yeah. Looks like you're definitely coming with us, Devon." Blue nitrile gloves touched lightly along his cheekbones and around his head checking for tenderness and bleeding. The uneven pupils weren't dramatic, but his trained eye caught it. So had Donnie's.

"Anyone take any drugs? Pills? Alcohol?" He didn't seem to need a neck brace, so AJ hustled Devon into the still idling truck and swapped out his gloves again. Donnie hopped out, having finished securing Celeste. He passed the clipboard to AJ. Oh. Right. Two times the transportees, two times the paperwork.

Aaaaaand he'd shucked the gloves that had Celestina's seizure timings written on it. How did he do that every time? AJ fished into his pocket as Donnie shut them into the back.

"Hold on to this, okay?" AJ tucked the used glove into Celeste's hands. Was it wrong to use a patient to not lose things? Nah. He was already juggling two clipboards and checking Donnie's IV placement. Celeste needed fluids to keep her blood pressure up.

"Anybody on regular medication I need to know about?" This was going to be a long drive.

She closed her eyes for a little bit, mainly to try to just clear her mind. It was a mess – the visions, the nightmares that had crawled out of her subconscious, the disaster that had unfolded. Tonight was supposed to be a fun, exciting night. Instead, she was going to be heading off to a hospital. And she didn’t even have insurance, so that would be a great thing to worry about. Stupid Americans.  

>> “I’ll see you downstairs, Celeste!”

She muttered a goodbye, although probably not audible enough for him to hear. She’d apparently see him soon, so she wasn’t worried about it. He seemed kind of weird, but alive and not about to die, unlike her probably. 

She felt the paramedic grab her hand and push them onto her stab wound. That was going to be an exciting thing to have for the rest of her life. She let out a meek sigh. She’d always remember this night and have a nasty reminder about it. Stab wound or not, she wouldn’t be forgetting either way, though.

She perked a brow towards the paramedic, “I-I think th-this is a little worse than crummy. E-ever been stabbed in Halloween?” She muttered. It was a kinda playful tone but she was put off. She rolled her eyes, albeit playfully, “Yeah, yeah, sure. It’s y-your job. Unless you’re a hallucination too.” Which would be really sad, actually. She was enjoying his company.

He got more serious so she squinted and tried to focus on him as he told her. Be honest. He’s not a cop (why would she care if he was anyways?) Needles and machines. Not the biggest fan of that, but it wasn't like she had a choice. Don't lie, no problem. She was an honest person, anyways. She didn’t do bad things or jail worthy things… Except for that money that she stole from her parents, but that didn’t count. She tried to shrug, “I-I already told you I like y-your beard.” It was a joke, a bad one. But she did like his beard and face in general.

She nodded, “Z-zofran prescription, nausea. No alcohol or illegal stuff. I-I'm a goody-two-shoes.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The ambulance was very white and very bright. Or was it just her? Oh well. It felt nice having her eyes closed now. There was a lot of sounds, a lot of noise, with the four of them piling into the car, but she was so tired anyway. She nodded as she held onto the gloves that AJ slipped into her hands. 

Another seizure rocked through her body. It was, luckily, a quick one, but her body seized up quickly and contorted for half a minute or so before it passed. Celeste groaned afterward. She was too tired to deal with this crap, "Is this real, though? Or is this... Still the hallucinations...?" She muttered more to herself than anyone else.  Maybe it got so bad that they had completely lost their minds and the mind was trying to deflect? Ughhh. 

Devon listened to Donnie, gazing into the pinpoint of light and following his other directions. It was a bleary white, not unlike the flashes that had become a constant while he was madly fighting in the eye of the hurricane, the portal to the abyss. All the stories told of horrors from the darkness between the stars, but there were plenty of dangers that were brilliantly beautiful, terrible and radiant.

The bearded AJ came over and took a second look. Devon was waxing Lovecraftian poetic in his mind, considering and introspective of what had happened. He was fighting to remind himself the girl was likely telepathic in a regard. Devon had hit his head a few times, primarily in his wild flight down to huddle near the concrete door but he’d also let it whip about in the manic frenzy of the not-quite-real airborne flight. No bleeding, but there was some tenderness. Certainly his wounds were deeper, harder to see.

>> "Yeah. Looks like you're definitely coming with us, Devon."

“I think that’s best, agreed,” Devon nodded slowly. He knew his equilibrium was off and his head was pounding if nothing else. Best to check, he sighed softly at the thought. He rose to get into the truck proper as the typical question arose…

>> "Anyone take any drugs? Pills? Alcohol?"

Celeste was making bad jokes but Devon chuckled and nodded along as she explained her good behavior. Zofran made sense considering her mutant power. That was smart whoever had thought of that. Had she discovered that plan or worked with doctors to do so? Either way, Devon was impressed. This girl could really help and inspire some people… Why AJ gave her the glove to hold onto though, Devon wasn’t sure. He missed that detail.

>> "Is this real, though? Or is this... Still the hallucinations...?"

“Yes this is real, and sir, I’m a Lamictal user for bipolar treatment,” Devon explained. “No alcohol today or the last few at least…” he tried to think back to the last drink. When did he last have someone over? Two weeks ago? He’d avoided it more after the brush with Dopple-Devon. That reminded him of the Doppleganger that danced along the ceiling. The other two, and even the girl despite her damnable red eyes… How were they?

“Celeste did you know either of the other two enough to know any of their history? I know of Mirror but not much of him personally. Do we know how the other three are?” He took a deep, slow breath and looked back to the paramedics, “While the girl – not the ceiling one but the other – she had some dangerous mental abilities. She likely is mentally ill and will need someone to suppress her from actively attacking hospital staff whether chemically or through the presence of an Adapted.”

Celeste was so out of it. That along with her pale lips and AJ was sure she wasn't going to stay with them the entire way to the hospital. If she did, it'd be through sheer force of will and copious beard jokes.

"If you start to question the reality of the here and now, feel free to stare at the beard. It's real, you know." He'd almost invited her to touch it, but considering the blood and other potential biohazards, not to mention the impropriety of inviting a patient to touch him at all... yeah. No. "You just keep asking if you see something off. We'll tell you." Devon was still together enough for that... maybe.

AJ bounced between his clipboards and took notes on their medications. They had two goody-two-shoes it seemed. That was both good and bad. They were both in a bad way and it would have been a simple solution if it'd been drugs. A bad batch. Or a mix or an overdose. Those kinds of things had actionable, simple solutions despite the dangers. A mentally ill psychic girl, though?

The EMT nodded along in all seriousness at Devon's explanation and allowed himself the smallest of mental high-fives. N2 had gotten the better of the two injured parties. Even if some kind of psychic-based hallucinogenic sounded interesting, that was a whole heap of uncontrolled and unknown. Dangerous, by the look of his two wards. He made a quick call back to the incident commander as the truck rolled out of the parking garage. They were to keep the female that was on the ground incapacitated. He got a quick confirmation and he braced himself as they slid out into traffic. The siren started up, muffled and yet still shrill. He could tune it out almost immediately now.

But it meant they were on their way and he hadn't even officially gotten Celestina's vitals. Devon probably didn't need to be admitted, but he'd get dropped off at the ER and they could officially decide there. Celeste, on the other hand, had some stitches, possibly even surgery in her future. He listened with his stethoscope and kept the questions rolling, each punctuated by a few quickly jotted notes.

"Any medical history of seizures? Any allergies that I need to know about?"

And of course, this was an epic juggling act. "You holding up, Devon? Anything else we need to know about what went down tonight? Do you know anything about the other locations?"

Her and Devon were going to need some serious therapy after this… Incident. Celeste couldn’t get the images out of her mind still. Maybe the effects hadn’t fully left yet? It had to have been that girl, like Devon said. Some type of dangerous mental ability. How did she have that much power, though?

Celeste shivered as they began to head towards the hospital. The ambulance was pretty cold, at least to her. Granted, it could have been due to extreme blood loss but she didn't really want to think about it in a rational way. Well, probably a hospital. Maybe a psychiatric ward, honestly? She had no idea. She didn’t even really care at the moment. She just followed the paramedics instructions and stared at his nice beard, occasionally glancing over to check on Devon. 

She shook her head, “Um, no. I don’t know the one on the ceiling. Gawain, I know him from school.” She winced, “He’s an X-Men, he helped me get into bakery stuff at the Mansion. Jumps into mirrors. Gender shifts between man and woman. D-Don’t know p-personal stuff.” She nodded a confirmation at the second portion of Devon’s explanation, too tired to give her full explanation of events.  

Celeste shook her head at AJ’s questions, “N-not that I know of. Seizures only happen when…” She took a deep breath, “When my m-mutation is drained.” Her eyes widened at AJ’s mention of the other locations. There was more? “H-How? O-other locations?” Oh God… It happened to multiple people? 

>> "If you start to question the reality of the here and now, feel free to stare at the beard. It's real, you know."

Devon looked to the bearded paramedic with a quizzical upturn of his brow and a set of narrowed eyes. However, he couldn’t keep from grinning slightly either. He was pleased someone was trying to keep Celeste awake and talking. Humor and personal interaction were the best for an engaged mind. Devon knew he was falling down a spiral of his own thoughts, which was never good for him and far worse for anyway he was supposed to be encouraging.

However, he wanted to know more about the others and their fates. He wanted to understand the X-Man, the ceiling-bound doppleganger, and the red eyed young girl. Understanding would allow him to logical put aside some of these thoughts and it was a struggle to do so. “Celeste did you know either of the other two enough to know any of their history? I know of Mirror but not much of him personally. Do we know how the other three are?”

Celeste was thankfully aware and with it enough to remember Mirror. >> “He’s an X-Men, he helped me get into bakery stuff at the Mansion. Jumps into mirrors. Gender shifts between man and woman. D-Don’t know p-personal stuff.”

A mutant ability that switched genders? That was likely impossible to deal with at first emergence. Devon had to wonder if the man and woman both shared the same thought and attractions or if they differed. Were mannerisms different or was it simply the outward expression of gender that changed? He’d only known of mirror-jumping.

>> "Any medical history of seizures? Any allergies that I need to know about?"

Devon simply shook his head no while Celeste mentioned seizures when she was drained. Did radiation keep her alive too? Was her body feeding off of it? Was could sicken and kill others kept her functioning normally. Devon wondered if she was immune to radioactive elements. In a very dire situation that could make her extremely helpful to the world. Devon’s thoughts were momentarily absorbed by the ideas of Celeste’s and Gawain’s mutations when AJ took him back to the moment.

>> "You holding up, Devon? Anything else we need to know about what went down tonight? Do you know anything about the other locations?"

Blue eyes widened dramatically. “I thought it was an echo, my imagination…” he nearly whispered. “There were two other voices. I thought in all the chaos; it’s hard to tell what was real. Are the people there okay?”

Ooooh. Talking about the other bubbles had apparently been a bad idea. "Hey, stay calm." AJ took a second to put his hand on Celestina the ballerina's shoulder. She seemed to respond to physical touch better than words alone which was common after being rattled. "Everyone's okay so far as I know and we can radio around to find out. Make sure you didn't have friends in other bubbles." The police, certainly, would want to know if this was a targeted attack.

AJ felt the ambulance slowing as he scribbled more notations from the machines in the back of the bus and scribbles from these two mutants remarkable stories. Three voices in one. Mhmm. Sure. It sounded crazy except for the fact that there were verifiably 3 locations and three bubbles, probably 3 mutants at their gooey disaster-laden centers. He got the cue and pulled the awkward semi-circular slide on the back doors.

The hospital was the flurry of activity it always was on full moons, Halloween, and solstices, but since no one on his truck was in life threatening state, the transfer wasn't as crazy as what was typically seen on TV. AJ stayed with Celestina and vouched for Devon as the chaperone or responsible party or whatever seemed like it'd work. They knew each other and knowing was half the battle... or something. It wouldn't get him into her room permanently, but it would let Devon stay close until Clestina was officially settled and attentions were turned to him.

"You did good, kid." He ruffled the blonde's hair before stepping away to see that Devon didn't escape from the ER.